Pondering buying a store's inventory

[comicalgems]

5 cents a book tops

can you imagine how many pages you are going to count

also don't bag and board thats adding another 12 cents a book

then you go to swap meet 25 cents each and 5x your loot. or like JM says the ebay thing but really what is return polcy? and your time to list with good photos.

And keeping track. . .

 

and Blob you know we take alla comics anyone can ever send

 

Comics4Kids, INC.

5009 50th Ave. SW

Seattle, Wa 98104

 

Whoa! I am in the pre-planning stages of launching a non-profit with the same name in OK. I"m guessing I need to come up with my own name.

 

You have a website?

[the blob]

When I buy large collections that have a lot of drek in them, I usually cut up the junk into "50 lots" (lots of 50 books, that fit easily into a medium flat rate priority box). I sell the lots on ebay for $5 each with $10 shipping, and surprisingly, I sell them alot! You are not making huge money, but you can use a simple picture of the stack, list what books are in your lot, and you make easy sales. This is especially helpful when you have 25 copies each of about 50 different books. You can make one auction, but list it multiple times.

 

That allows you to have some of the "better" stuff for the 50 cent and dollar boxes at shows.

 

I'm looking to do the same with a collection of 50 long boxes, and 22 short boxes, but I have to see if the owner is reasonable or not.

 

We will see.

 

Wow, I'm amazed that works, but I guess people see the "$5" and the $10 shipping is lost on them? Media would be even better, but that could be a problem potentially.

 

 

$15 for 50 books isn't a bad deal though. Especially for kids on an allowance, think of what they get to read and then trade with friends.

 

No, you're abolutely right, it's a good deal, absolutely.

[the blob]

and Blob you know we take alla comics anyone can ever send

 

Comics4Kids, INC.

5009 50th Ave. SW

Seattle, Wa 98104

 

------

 

Whoa! I am in the pre-planning stages of launching a non-profit with the same name in OK. I"m guessing I need to come up with my own name.

 

You have a website?

 

--------

 

Nef has been pushing that here for a while. I used to put together grab bags for a kids/family shelter my old office used to do a toy drive for. I'd fill up 30 or 40 golden age bags with, I dunno, 15 comics or something. Of course, I had to make sure it was all safe for kids, so no Image books.

 

Speaking of which, nef, what do you do with image stuff or other age inappropriate material?

 

I'd be fine with that, and the store is probably going to donate it to the schools in his area, or a lot of it as he says he has done in the past to make some space, but shipping this stuff to seattle would be a brute and expensive. if you had a local NYC branch I'd just drop it off.

 

honestly, given the number of comic warehouses/stockpiles around here a NYC branch would probably work well. joseph koch could get rid of some of his drek as could mike carbonaro.

[the blob]

5 cents a book tops

can you imagine how many pages you are going to count

also don't bag and board thats adding another 12 cents a book

then you go to swap meet 25 cents each and 5x your loot. or like JM says the ebay thing but really what is return polcy? and your time to list with good photos.

And keeping track. . .

---------------

 

I wouldn't be counting any pages. "As is."

 

I wouldn't be bagging and boarding unless it is too good for this stuff and I'm pulling it out.

 

I wouldn't be taking good photos. I would take a picture of a pile of books with long boxes in the background!

 

As for a return policy, who is going to spend $10 to return $5 worth of books to get their $5 back?

 

In better times I actually did a lot better than $5 for grab bag lots like this, but then was then. I'd also mix in 5 - 7 BA reader books and/or SA beaters. I have not tried to do something like this recently.

[the blob]

Does anyone know how much one of those PM boxes filled with comics weighs? I know it's flat rate, but I'd like to know how much it would be by media too and I don't have scale with me.

[CKB]

Does anyone know how much one of those PM boxes filled with comics weighs? I know it's flat rate, but I'd like to know how much it would be by media too and I don't have scale with me.

 

Media mail is less - the books don't weigh enough for it to overcome the media rate.

 

A significant disadvantage to media in my mind is that you have to come up with your own packaging. For PM flat rate you use the flat rate boxes.

[1Cool]

Does anyone know how much one of those PM boxes filled with comics weighs? I know it's flat rate, but I'd like to know how much it would be by media too and I don't have scale with me.

 

Media mail is less - the books don't weigh enough for it to overcome the media rate.

 

A significant disadvantage to media in my mind is that you have to come up with your own packaging. For PM flat rate you use the flat rate boxes.

 

That and my local post office is cracking down on media mail packages. And it takes so fickin long to get anywhere buyers start thinking you sent it a week after they paid. Priority Mail all the way for me!

[shadroch]

I sent 17 boxes of comics from Las Vegas to NYC via media mail last week. All of them arrived within six days.

Five boxes were sent via Fed Ex ground at almost twice the cost and took eight days.

Two boxes were shipped via UPS and took six days at just a bit more than the Fed Ex ground did.

For the cost, I'll be using media mail.

[the blob]

I'm just concerned that a long comic box raises a huge read flag and they'll inspect it now that they're getting harsher about this stuff. it's a shame.

[Nick Fury-migration]

A retail expert friend of mine once said that old, ugly inventory just gets older and uglier over time.

A little perspective when you're dealing with someone's old, ugly inventory that's been picked through and rejected for years:

 

I met a guy at convention this spring who had bought a storage unit with 70 long boxes of actually really decent stuff...Silver age bagged and boarded, but non-key. He had spent hundreds to rent a Sprinter Truck and drive the boxes along the west coast. Hundreds on Meals and Hotel Room. Over $1,000 on the convention space. End of the show he had sold less than $1,500 worth of books. I called him the next day and offered to buy $4,000 worth of books if he would take $1,000, or 75% of his asking price. I actually bought $8,000 worth of books for $2,000. Fortunately I met him at his first show, so the stuff wasn't terribly picked through. I"ve probably sold about 20% of it so far at a decent profit. But a half year later I'm the guy with Long Boxes full of books thinking about going to conventions. I'd almost rather have my $2,000 back.

[shadroch]

So don't send long boxes. Find a 24 hour supermarket and talk to the guys in the cookie and potato chip aisles. I find Linden Cookies and Granola boxes work best. Two rows of books with padding fit almost perfect.

I would not suggest sending long boxes as they might break apart unless you have those plastic wrapping things around them.

 

[the blob]

A retail expert friend of mine once said that old, ugly inventory just gets older and uglier over time.

A little perspective when you're dealing with someone's old, ugly inventory that's been picked through and rejected for years:

 

I met a guy at convention this spring who had bought a storage unit with 70 long boxes of actually really decent stuff...Silver age bagged and boarded, but non-key. He had spent hundreds to rent a Sprinter Truck and drive the boxes along the west coast. Hundreds on Meals and Hotel Room. Over $1,000 on the convention space. End of the show he had sold less than $1,500 worth of books. I called him the next day and offered to buy $4,000 worth of books if he would take $1,000, or 75% of his asking price. I actually bought $8,000 worth of books for $2,000. Fortunately I met him at his first show, so the stuff wasn't terribly picked through. I"ve probably sold about 20% of it so far at a decent profit. But a half year later I'm the guy with Long Boxes full of books thinking about going to conventions. I'd almost rather have my $2,000 back.

 

Local, non-manhattan, shows around here seem to be less than $100 a table, so I would not be spending money on hotels or convention space or renting a truck as I would have as many tables as long boxes I can fit in a station wagon/SUV (I guess 2 6 foot tables worth tables, max).

 

But I hear you about old stock. I can envision what I might be looking at getting picked over pretty quickly. As for whether it HAS been picked over...I think one reason he wants out is that his store is DEAD. it's a weird set-up. i found $50 books in his 50 cent book section (oh sure, when he sees that in your pile he pulls it out and isn't going to sell it for 50 cents, but what the heck is it doing there, no price tag, nothing?) and a lot of solid $10 type books unboarded, sometimes unbagged. it's just a total mess. i think it scares people off as I had been there a year or two earlier and barely got past the front door before deciding I just didn't have the energy to look around.

 

Anyway, it's not like I don't already have a ton of stuff. I'd guess about 50-70 long boxes worth of krap I have accumulated over the last 35 years.

 

Anyway, thanks for all the advice and war stories. I will be very cautious about taking on so much bulk 1985 - 2010 stuff, but if he's selling for $5-$10 a box I need to seriously think about it as there is probably a market for this at $15-$20 a long box worth whether by the long box or smaller packages and by my standards there are going to be $5-$10 worth of "decent" books in each box anyway.